


An alternative Grey`s Anatomy ending

by w_esty



Series: Alternative Grey`s Anatomy ending [1]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:01:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27887194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_esty/pseuds/w_esty
Summary: An alternative ending for the series which begins 6 years after the beginning of season 17.Chapter 1: Meredith says goodbye to her mother`s house and reunites with an old friend.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Alex Karev
Series: Alternative Grey`s Anatomy ending [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041975
Kudos: 10





	1. "She`s leaving home"

**Author's Note:**

> I`m happy to receive feedback (no hate, no insults please).  
> English is not my mother tongue, sorry for grammatical errors.

Meredith walked around once more, pretending to check whether they have emptied all the rooms. But in truth, she wanted to say goodbye once again. Goodbye to the marks on the ceiling from the Christmas tree from their intern year - she never had such a big Christmas tree since. Goodbye to the marks on the floor from the party Izzy threw; goodbye to the scratches on the door jamb. On one side, there were her height marks and Ellie-Belle`s with another color. On the other side, there were Zola`s and Bailey`s marks. Bailey`s start _from after_ and Zola`s have a hiatus for the time when they were living in the dreamhouse _before_.  
She looked into the common bathroom where on some mornings four-five residents were preparing for their busy days - taking a shower, brushing their teeth, shaving their legs- all at the same time. She checked whether they left anything in the once-upon-a-time attic, where she exiled poor Lexie, but renovated and turned into a spacious children's bedroom _after_. She looked into the bedrooms which provided a refuge to so many people during the years. Finally, she stepped into the master bedroom. She stroked the original contours of the tumor on the wall which still showed through the new layers of painting. There is still a small hole on the wall where once the framed post-it hanged. “A hell of a life you had” - she murmured smilingly to the bed.  
She went down the stairs for the last time - at least for a while. Oh, those stairs! There is no scientific explanation for how they survived so much running and trotting. And finally, the kitchen. Izzy baking all night long. Expecting a pizza delivery, but getting back Zola instead. Amelia breaking down the wall to the living room with a sledgehammer. It seemed extremely crazy even with her measures at the time, but eventually, she was right about letting in more light. In every sense.  
“Does it hurt? Saying goodbye?” - a tender male voice asked, stroking her shoulders. “You know that it will be in good hands; it is not lost forever” - added.  
“I know. I am not sad. This is the palace where I became a person who is able to create a home.”  
“Against all odds.” - she added smilingly.  
“You are _the_ home for so many of us.” - he kissed her on the cheek.  
She looked grateful at the man who opened her world to this new kind of love. A love which always shows you a honest mirror when needed, but never questions how you should feel. She never imagined herself moving to another continent at this age and she was never good at letting go of people or places, but this time, it felt so natural. Even facing with others` departure - Maggie and Richard relocating to Boston, Amelia and Link moving to LA- did not terrify her anymore. She knew that she didn`t lose them and she wouldn`t lose them. However, she was relieved that she had a perfect excuse not to sell the house when Alex reached out some months ago after a returning tumor took Izzy and he was let known that his mother doesn't have much time left either. She heard that a car stopped at the entrance.  
“They are here.” - she tried not to sound too excited, but her heart was beating extremely fast.  
Meredith opened the door and they were really there, but she was unable to speak; Alex was the one who broke the silence.  
“Alexis, Eli, this is Meredith, my … best friend?”- he smiled at Meredith with an insecure look.  
“Yes. Hi.” - they were like taking the essence of their father and mother and mixing them up.  
“Hi.” - they said in a pre-adolescent half-humble-mouthed, half-flippant voice.  
“Good to see you again, dear.” - said a woman with a warm look sitting in a wheelchair in front of Alex.  
“Mrs. Karev, the same.”


	2. "A friend in need's a friend indeed"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Meredith catch up. Everything has changed, but everything is a same.

It was just the two of them in the kitchen. The mood was still a bit awkward, as they haven't talked with each other since the letter. Meredith poured some coffee, took a big breath and asked:   
“So, which kind of conversation would you like? The one where I ask how are you and the family, you say something meaningless, you ask the same, I say something meaningless, we smile at each other politely and go one with our lives...or..”  
“The `Seriously, Alex?` one” - replied Alex smilingly. “Just for the record, you took off and had a secret baby after Derek died. And you didn't even write a romantic letter like me. Admit it, it did have a style.”  
“Fair enough” - Meredith smiled back.  
In that moment, the arwardness was just gone. They could look at each other like old times.   
“So...was it worth it? Were you happy?”  
“It was worth it. Were we happy? Yes and no. The days were calm, cheerful. There was no drama, no harsh arguments. But it was always there, the way it happened. You can`t undo it. I think Izzie always despised me a bit for the way it ended with Jo. And I was always a bit angry inside that she didn't tell me sooner about the kids. But we didn't really talk about it until the end. In the beginning, everything happened so fast and it was so...natural I guess. But before she was gone, in the last minutes she said that she is sorry if I lost the love of my life to her and that she is sorry, she didn't want to keep the kids away from me, she just didn't want to intervene in my life after she had left me. I`m happy for those years, I`m happy to know my children, and to be a part of their lives as soon as I could be. Maybe there could be other ways for that. Ways which did not hurt others as much. Honestly, I still don't know. Am I horrible? I feel like no matter how I decided, I would have ended up as a crappy person, I could decide only in which way I was a crappy person. And I just couldn`t be the crappy person who doesn't care about his children.”  
“I know.” - said Meredith and then remained silent for a minute. She looked at his face and saw him again the way she saw him when she realized for the first time that Alex is not that horrible person he wants to be seen as. She sighed.  
“No, sometimes we just don`t know, but we have to do something anyway. Did she suffer a lot? At the end?”  
“No, it was actually calm and quick. We basically followed the protocol she improved for her patients. She smiled at the end, like always. The kids are amazingly wise, I'm a bit worried for them. And how is she?” There was no need to add the name, Meredith knew exactly whom Alex refers to.  
“She is fine, as far as I know. Actually, more than fine. One year after, she took in a foster child and later on she adopted him as well. She moved to the East Coast with her fancy research, travelling a lot, kicking ass like she should.”  
“Has she moved on?”-Alex asked.  
“Yes and no, just like you. The trust which was broken, couldn`t be repaired. I think she decided that the best is not trying to repair it, accepting that there is no magic cure for this. And within those circumstances, she moved on. Never opening up herself to a person like she did with you, but still moving on. And I think - although she would never admit it- she has forgiven you. I think she understands. But if you are considering contacting her…”  
“No, I`m not that horrible.” - he interrupted Meredith.  
“OK then.” - Meredith nodded coincidently.  
“And your mom? How much time does she have?”- Meredith asked.  
“Not much. I couldn't leave her alone back home. Aaron is much better now, but it wouldn't be fair to leave all of these to him. And Sis finally decided to go to college, as she should.”

“Uncle Alex!” - Zola sprung into the kitchen and hugged Alex.  
“Hey Zoz, look at you! A grown-up woman! Do you have a boyfriend?”  
“Do you really want me to kill you after all those years?” - replied Meredith disapprovingly.  
“Not playing the cool mom, huh?”  
“It was easy so far, I could malevolently laugh at Hayes` struggles with two teenage boys. Now it's my turn soon.”

It was only them in the kitchen again.  
“I want to ask some many things and know everything and we barely have time.” - Alex   
“Well, if you hadn't ghosted me….” - Meredith replied smilingly.  
“Everything has changed.” - Alex said.  
“Yeah, but wouldn't it be even more sad if nothing had changed?”  
“The chief of chiefs speaking.” - Alex replied with an ironic salutation. “I`m happy that I`m coming back for your gap year, so I don't have to put up with you being my boss. Anyway, I wanted to ask, what am I hired for?”  
“Actually…”-Meredith was smiling. “We have this new pediatrics pro bono program. It is more than just isolated pro bono surgeries, but an entire budget allocated to children in need covered by for profit surgeries. It is pretty well-established now and if it continues to succeed, we might extend it to other areas.”  
“Are you handing me your medical love child with Hayes?”  
“Yep, don't screw it up. There is a lot of bureaucratic crap to take care of, but also innovative surgeries and happy families. If you are in, we can discuss the details in the hospital.”  
“I`m proud of you, so grown-up. Instead of committing insurance fraud in your daughter`s name, you came up with an actual solution.” - said Alex in a mocking voice.  
“You know that I can still change my mind, right?”  
“C`mon, no one is there anymore, you couldn't just leave the place to some upstart. ”  
“I couldn`t, that's for sure.”-said Meredith with a relieved sigh. “We also have an incubator program, other hospitals have already started to copy it.”  
“Incubator program? We always used them when newborns were preterm or weak.”  
“No, not like that. People giving birth to babies they don't want to keep can legally leave them in an incubator in front of the hospital.”  
“How come?”  
“A collaboration between an European pediatrics surgeon and a girl left at a fire station.” - smiled Meredith. She is unstoppable. Pittsburgh. Jo Pittsburgh now.“  
“Married?”  
“Just found her name.”  
“So, is anyone still around whom I know?” - Alex changed the subject.  
“Well, it is more stable than you would think. Jackson took over all the foundation-related issues when Richard retired and moved fulltime to Boston with Catherine. Owen and Teddy are pretty established here with their family. And Amelia visits every two-three month to work on their bipolar research project with Deluca.”  
“Why did Amelia and Link leave?”  
“Link realized that he wanted to cut back on the traditional career track, spend more time with the kids and surf or whatever. You know, he was and will always be a shiny-happy LA guy. And Amelia didn't need to give up her research project just because she wasn't here permanently anymore. Not to mention that she has a much nicer sister-in-law there.” - Meredith giggled.  
“She said once that we were more alike than I would think and she is right. The only difference is that she brings out all that dark and twistedness, while I suppress it. Or at least, I used to.”  
“Not anymore?”  
“Yeah, to some extent. But actually no catastrophe has happened for a pretty long time. It's made me an annoying optimist and a bit suspicious at the same time.”  
“Good things happen to us. You don't have to be afraid of that.”  
“I know, Mr. Fortune Cookie. I missed you so much that I hated you for a while. To be honest, it was even worse than after Cristina left.”  
“I`m here now. You are leaving.”  
“It's temporary, we`re not finished. And don`t you ever dare to ghost me again, whatever happens. You can go anywhere, just don't shut me out.”  
“I won`t, I just had to do that at that time. I couldn't do it any other way.”  
“I know.”


End file.
